Pinewood Derby

Ahh, when you say cub scouts to anyone, this is the first thing that comes to mind.

You have whole websites and blogs dedicated to this one subject. How to make a fast derby car? How to cut out your car? What's the best shape for your car?

And I will be the first to tell you that we researched a lot before this ever came up.
Even our council's Facebook has posted so many interesting things about derby..and tips.
So anyway, you will start off with a block of wood. Our pack provided us with derby box, which had a piece of wood, 4 tires and 4 nails. When I saw the wood, I was thinking how in the world do we turn it into a car? I don't have any fancy tools so I bought one of those little saws that come in the kits at the scout store. After sawing on 1 pc for 30 min, I went and invested in a drimmel. Between the drimmel and a drill, my brother in law, Josh, helped make it look like a car.

He even taught my son to use a drimmel! I'm not going to lie because while he educated my son, I also learned how to use it...lol

So once we had the basic shape, we went home and painted it.  My son wanted to do skulls and asked it I could paint it.. I'm an ok painter but I knew I couldn't do a skull. So I went to Hobby Lobby. 

Fact: Hobby Lobby has a nice section for derby. There are weights, derby kits like Batman cars, dry graphite, scales and stick/rub on decorations for the cars. And you can use a 40% off coupon! So I bought his rub on skulls there. And this is a batman kit I bought for me to do. 

Yes those are my Olaf pants..lol. but I loved this kit. No cutting required. Came with weights, paint, sticker decorations, sandpaper, paint brushes, wheels and nails. And I loved making this one. 

My son's was a lot more work and I actually like his better...don't tell him that.

I did all the gluing of the driver and motor. LJ put on the wheels with Daddy's help. He helped me spray paint it yellow. He put some of the rub on decorations with. He had more fun working on this with his father than with me. I don't mind, it was fun to see my husband and my 7 year old brag about who was going to win.

So we missed the big day with the other packs because of some kids not being ready. At 1st I thought that was rude to postpone out pack because of a few kids. But honestly, I thought everything came together better than what it would have been. And I loved having ALL the kids in our pack participate. 

We had it at a park that was close to our meeting place. And it was a blast! While adults were getting everything ready, the kids played on the playground right next to our pavilion. It was free for our pack to have it there and the kids would just run off between rounds to get some energy out.

Everyone came together to really help this be a great day. Ms Melanie got breakfast items, including milk and donuts.  Ms Josie came with a huge platter of fruit that the kids devoured.  Our new cubmaster was engaging with everyone. Our den leaders set up the track and fine tuned everything. And it was a lot of fun!

And this is how your son will act when his car races... this was the 5th race that his car participated in and so far he won all of them.

I was very proud of my son. He went the whole race undefeated and won a gold medal. Oh, the night before the race, I weighed his car in at 4.99... so to get that extra 0.01 oz, I painted his weights at the bottom. It worked! His car was exactly 5 oz.  They clocked his car going 179 miles per hour. His usual time was between 2.7 and 2.8 secs. 

Everyone kept asking what we did to his car to make it so fast. I don't know! We spray painted 3 layers of yellow, we sealed everything with modge podge, we distributed the weights everywhere.. I just followed directions from the internet. 

When they called my son up to get his medal, his little 7 year old chest puffed up with pride. I noticed this because I never saw him puff up before..lol

So yeah, it was nice. And the funny thing is that before the race and all through the race, I kept telling him that it's ok if he lost. He would still get a badge. I was basically getting him ready to loose. I had no idea that he would win! Undefeated!

In 2017, he again placed. 

And trust us, we had no clue he would.

2nd place!

The boy's cars are in the pic above. My car is the bottom set of pictures. All the kids loved it. And we, as adults, get to use the track after the official race. It's a lot of fun and the kids love it.

And again in 2018, he made first! Boy that was a close race!

He also refused help from us in making his car. The only thing my husband got to do was cut out is cut out my SON's design and I got to help epoxy the battery in the car. The rest, he did!

His car was the one with lights. He said it helped teleport the car to the finish line. My husbands was the blue car and mine was carved like a desk with books on it, complete with a lamp that I couldn't figure out how to make light up. LOL. My son's car beat EVERYONE'S car, including the adults and his old first place car. 

If you would like to help support James in his adventures with scouts, please click Here

Thank you!

Superbowl of Caring

Ok, as I write this, this is already done for 2016..
But the whole point of this blog is to help answer questions. And I am sure new parents to scouting will wonder, what is Superbowl of Caring?
I learned about this 2 weeks before it happened. I was at round table, my very 1st meeting there, and they asked all the packs to pick their location. When they said the words Superbowl of Caring, I immediately thought of those brown paper bags at the grocery store. You know the ones... you buy it and they donated the bag you chose to a food bank. And if you thought that was it, you would be correct. But in scouts, we ask for donations instead of buying.

So, these flyers will be given to your scout at a pack/den meeting. They will also give you a map or certain streets that your scout needs to hang those flyers. Then on the Saturday before the Superbowl of caring,  your scout has to go out and hang them. We had about 100 flyers each kid and took us about an hour to hang them.

Then on the next saturday, you drive down those same streets and pick up whatever bags of food are left by the door.

Now we only had 3 houses leave something out of 100 houses.. but it seemed like most of our kids had that problem. 

Afterward, we went to our meeting place, where the boys had to help sort it. Then we packed up the truck and someone drove it to the Houston Food Bank. This is where they weigh it and your pack has to turn in the info to your council.

Afterwards, I spoke to other packs and they went door to door knocking, asking for donations. My husband had suggested it but our leader said maybe next year. 

Oh and if you want your son to get a badge for this, the Wednesday after the superbowl of caring,  your scout needs to go help till 9pm at the Houston Food bank. We skipped this part since my son is only 7 and that would really screw up his sleep schedule for school the next day.

So good luck everyone! And have fun with it!

Recruitment Ideas for your pack

Recruiting for your pack

Hi everyone! 

So, our pack is running into trouble. We have 2 Tigers, no wolves, 6 bears and 4 webelos.  We have talked about merging our pack with a smaller pack but we are going to wait till Fall 2016 recruiting to decide.

Our pack has been around for 30 years. When we sold popcorn, it was amazing how many older gentlemen said their cub scouts was our pack. It's sad that something that has been around for so long may no longer be. And it's not the money! It's the fact that we can not recruit in our school, which is our chartered organization. 

So, we had someone speek with the school and found out that we can recruit at our annual carnival. 

So now we are going to set up a booth there and hopefully recruit. But one thing I was going to mention is what do you give out during recruitment?  Cub scouts is like a dying tradition here, which is a shame. Parents are both working, so it leaves little time for camping or meetings. 

I signed up my son so that his father and him can do this together. But with his work schedule, he just doesn't have the time. Hence why this Mama is the one at every meeting, taking him out to sell fundraiser stuff, and making sure he memorized his scout law. And it's not just me! Our moms in our pack are very active, helping with organizing fundraisers, getting their Baloo training done, ect. And I noticed a lot of moms out there at the round table meetings in a uniform!

So back to my original thought.. have you thought of recruitment material? Well, as I write this, it is February 2016. At the last round table meeting, there was a box filled with the old handbooks. They were giving them away! So I grabbed one. LJ loved the wolf handbook I took home.

Which made me think, if LJ likes it so much, what about other kids. So I contacted our council and they gave me the information of a Mr. White. 

Mr White met me in my location, filled up a cart full of boxes that contained the old handbooks. We are going to give them out as part of recruitment material. Better than a flyer and free.

These books were going to be recycled because they can't be used due to the newer versions we have. So why not give them out as an example of what our scouts do?

Mr White is located in the Sam Houston Area Council.. but I'm sure where ever you are, contact your council and ask for those old handbooks. Stick an address label on it with your pack's # and their contact info. 

Hope this helps my pack and yours! 

Family Stories- international pen pal

Ok, we have done most of the requirements for the Family Stories belt loop. But one kept eluding me. The international pen pal from a heritage country. I knew I wanted Ireland but I couldn't find any Web pages that did it. The UK and Australia seemed to be the popular pen pal places for scouts.

After a week of looking at Web pages that didn't have anything to do with BSA or other scouts, I started to get discouraged.  Some sites wanted the pack to sign up too, not just 2 little lonesome tigers.

Then today it hit me. 

I found a way! 

I went online to search what the Irish scouts are called. Then I searched for what the tigers age group is called (beavers). Then I found their Facebook page. Yup, I sent out a post, which the Beavers posted on their feed for us. And it worked! They have the same requirement and are looking for international pen pals too! It was amazing how fast the responses were and how awesome the Beavers network is. 

So don't get discouraged! 

I just wish I thought of it sooner...

Hope this helps some Tigers out there. Remember, do your best and don't give up!

Curiosity, Intrigue, an Magical Mysteries

Curiosity, Intrigue, an Magical Mysteries

I loved doing this one with my son. They have to perform a Magic Show!!!

Ok, getting ahead of myself.

Requirement 1: Learn a Magic Trick and practice it for a show.

We started off doing the trick shown in the book, which was hard for my son but he got it down. But since we knew he had a show to do, we went to the Boys Life website on the Magic in a Minute section and just looked up some there. We picked 5 different ones and decided those were the ones he would learn for the show.

Requirement 2: Create an Invitation to a Magic Show
I just took a piece of printer paper, cut it in half and brought out the crayons.  He drew some harts, called the show LJ'S Amazing Awesomeness or some such thing.  Make sure it has the date (ours was Thanksgiving), a place and a time.

Requirement 3:  Put on a Magic show for an audience 
The moment my son was waiting for! He practiced all week for this and messed up only once. Did he have fun? He said he did but he certainly rushed through it. But the good thing is with family, they supported him, clapping at every trick he did. Will he do another show anytime soon? Probably not by choice.  

Requirement 4: Create a Secret Code
We looked online to see what kind of codes we could make. We used lemon juice and wrote Tigers Rule. Im guessing my lightbulbs were not hot enough to make it show because the paper remained blank. So then I had him use the alphabet #'s.. A=1 B=2, ect And he made a code. 

Requirement 5: With your Den, crack a code you did not make. 
Yeah, we cracked the code that was in the book. Then I made my son practice more at home with the codes in the Boys Life Magazine. 

Requirement 6: Spell your name using sign Language and in Braille. 
My son has 2 letters to his name so this made it a little easier. The signing he got down fast but the braille was a little harder. Funny fact: my son ended up checking out a Braille book from the library. Of course it had words written in white but the rest of the book was black. And to "see" the pictures and some words, you had to "read" with your fingers. It was HARD! Great for educational purposes. 

Requirement 7: Science Demo on how magic works
Yeah, we followed the wonderful directions... and we had water go everywhere! Maybe it was the cardboard? I don't know. But after 2 separate tries, we gave up.

Requirement 8: What did you learn from your science demo?
My son wrote NOTHING...LOL
If you would like to help James in his scouting adventures, please click Here
Thank you

Tigers in the Wild (needed)

Tigers in the Wild

Ok, our other Tiger did most of this during the camping trip. But if you read through my blog, you know my son couldn't make it. He caught a nasty bug the DAY that we were supposed to leave for camping. So I apologized  to everyone, including our other Tiger. 

But I still made him do things, with a fever. I figured the fresh city air would help him...LOL

Req 1: Name and collect the Cub Scout 6 essentials you need for a hike. Tell your den leader what you would need to add if it rained. 

We actually did this at the pack meeting before camping. They had the kids practice pitching tents and talked to them about what they would need.

Req 2: Go for a short hike with your den or family and carry your own gear. Show you know how to get ready for this hike.

Our other Tiger did this at camp. My son, I made hike with a slight fever. ( It was only like 99.1 but I was trying to sweat that bug out!) So, we have a small bayou behind our neighborhood. And we walked there for maybe 20 min. He got really tired ( still sick, remember) so I lead him back home, where he fell back asleep. You can tell in the pic below he doesn't eel good while hiking in his PJ bottoms..Poor baby

Req 3A:Outdoor code. 

I read from the book the outdoor code and we discussed how we can be clean in our outdoor environment. 

3B Leave no Trace behind

Read this and discussed why we should always throw our trash away instead of on the ground

3C Apply both codes

We made sure not to disturb the bees on the flowers, instead walking around them. And we picked up some trash that was on the ground.

Req4 While on a hike, find 3 different kinds of plants, animals, or signs that animals were here.

Just write what you saw. Since he was sick, I took pics of different things and let him choose what he wanted to write later.

Req 5 Partcipate in an outdoor meeting or campout fire. Sing a song and act out a skit with your Tiger den.
So, I used the camp fire from the camping trip of Fun With Son as the song. We had Boy Scouts there teaching the kids songs and acting out skits. Thats only because LJ was sick for the campout that our pack went on. The other scout used the campout as the song portion.

Now for the skit portion... we went ahead and did a skit at out Pack meeting. We had the scouts count to 60 while our boys danced like crazy to a song. Then our den leader said that we just wasted a min of their time. Everyone cracked up.

youtube video of the skit

Req 6 Find 2 different trees and 2 different types of plants that grow in your area. Write their names in your Tiger handbook.

We did this at one of our 1st den meetings. Our leader made the kids draw a picture of the leaf and then write the name. Then we took some leaves and put paper over it, then use a crayon to do a rub of it. It was fun!

Req 7 Visit a nearby nature center, zoo, or outside place with your family/den. Learn about 2 animals and write down 2 interesting facts.

Well, once again that camping trip was used for the other scout.

 We on the other hand, had to find something else. So we found a wolf sanctuary. 

We went to Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary, and it was a blast. I have a whole post on it. 

Wolf Sanctuary post

And after you do that, you will earn your Tiger's in the Wild belt loop!

Tiger Bites Belt loop ( needed)

Tiger Bites!

This was one of my son's 1st belt loops! And this is when he discovered some were gold. LOL

Most of these you can do at home with your son, which was great for us. 

Req 1: Identify 3 good food choices and 3 no good choices.

Ok, I went to the govt website they had in the book but it was confusing for us. So, I just pulled up a food pyramid chart..LOL.. old school sometimes works best. Explain whats good and why. Explain about bad food and why. 

Then you have your son fill out the chart. Easy!

Req 2: Show you know the difference between a fruit and veggie. Eat one of each.

Ok, when I looked at other blogs on this, alot of people brought their den to the grocery store and learned about it there. We did not get to, so I brought my kid on a shopping trip to 2 different stores. One was HEB, which ours has a wonderful selection of fruits and veggies. We bought the yellow and purple little carrots. Then we brought him to an asian market, which had some awesome but different stuff. We bought a Dragon Fruit ( which didn't taste like anything for $5) and a white Coconut ( the one that is still in the green casing that was hard as heck to break). We discovered that the coconut is way different like that and we all loved it. It was not fry like the normal stuff. 

Of course I lost the pictures of us trying to open the coconut but it was hard work.

Req 3: Pick a job to help your family at mealtime,. Help everyday for one week.

Clean off table shouldn't sound so bad but Oh my gosh, the complaints I had everyday...ugh. And the funny thing was, it's mostly his stuff. Like his electronics, books, toys... I thought afterward he would keep the table cleaner by picking up his stuff but NOPE! Good luck on this one!

Req 4: Show you can keep yourself and personal area clean.

They demonstrate how to wash your hands properly. I showed my son and told him to wash his hands after using the bathroom. Laziness has stopped him from doing that. When I commented on it, he said the hand sanatizer gets his hands cleaner. I agreed but since he doesn't use that, then maybe he should try washing his hands... LOL 

Req 5: What foods can you eat with your fingers

Yup, this can really help. My son likes to pick up everything with his hands to eat. So it was nice to teach him, only if it lasted a little while.

Req 6: Plan and make a good snack choice to share with your den

He chose one of his faves- It's a cracker with peanut butter and bananas on it. 

The kids loved it. NOTE: I checked with the other moms 1st to make sure there were no peanut allergies. I would suggest you do the same.

Congrats, your child is done with Tiger Bites!

If you would like to support James (LJ) in scouts, please click Here

 Thank you!

Team Tiger Beltloop for Tigers (needed)

Team Tiger Beltloop

Pages 67-77 in your Tiger Scout Handbook

Hi Again!

Ok, today I am going to talk about your little Tiger's Team Tiger Beltloop. This is needed for the Tiger Badge!

I thought this was a great one because usually when you think of teams, you think sports. But it can mean so much more, like being a team for your family or neighborhood. And in Requirement 1, it has has some questions that will help you and your scout along the way.
Q1. My den team is: ______ fill in with your Tiger den #
Q2: My Pack team is: _______ fill in with your pack #
Q3: My school team is: ______ fill in with your school name
Q4: My neighborhood team is:_________ fill in with neighborhood name
Q5: What other teams are you on? ___ I let my son figure this out and he put our last name, with the explanation that our family is a team. I LOVED that explanation! But of course your son can do his sports team, church, science after school team, ect...
Q6: How can a team do more things than one person?___ My son put helping... What you can explain is that when helping, you do your part as each person does their part in helping and together you can accomplish great things.

Requirement 2: Make a den chart with your den that shows everyone doing something to help. Also, as one of the den jobs, lead the Pledge of Allegiance at a den meeting.
This was a little hard for us. The Pledge was easy because my son did it at a Pack meeting. But the chart was something that just kept being put on hold. So, last month (January)  I just brought the supplies and helped the kids put together a chore chart.  If you have to, do the same things. Bring your own supplies and just do it. LOL

Requirement 3: Pick 2 chores that you will do once a week for a month.
( Insert sarcasm here: Oh How FUN! )
My son picked feeding the dogs and washing clothes... Instead on once a week, I made him feed the dogs every morning. And clothes? You better believe he helped with every load for a month... LOL He complained a lot but I told him I do this stuff every time by myself. Then I would encourage him by saying how much of a big help he is. AND he got paid chore money. 10 cents for each dog feeding and 10 cents for each load of clothes he did.

Requirement 4: Make a chart to show 3 ways that members of your Tiger team are different from each other.
So easy! They supply the chart on page 75 and you help the kids fill it out. My son wrote that his fave food is sushi. Another kid put Salmon. I thought that was just awesome!

Requirement 5: Do an activity to help your community or neighborhood team.
If you have done Scouting for food, you can use that for this requirement. I made my son do something totally different. We just moved to Houston, TX from a smaller town. So, I contacted our old church and signed him up to volunteer for Fall Fest. So for 1 1/2 hours, my son was a candy runner. It was mostly boring in the beginning but as the night started getting busier, he had more candy to run. And before the actual event started, he got to go to the doors giving out candy in the hallway and trick or treat. I thought it was nice. There is also a small list of ideas that may be more fitting for your son that you can find on page 77.

Congrats! He has finished his Team Tiger Beltloop!!
Oh, and please always write down their completion dates of each beltloop/award. It will make things easier to find it when they ask.